The Cult of the Demon Skull
by Snakecharmer32
Summary: What will happen when two fresh Stormwind Guard recruits discover a deadly and horrific plot to destroy all of Azeroth? I would REALLY like reviews but no flames. Rated T for violence and blood
1. The man from the Highlands

My name is Charlie Maddock of the clan Maddock, and this is my story

I remember that first, fateful day when I first walked up the path to Stormwind city. I was awed by the tall walls, shining canals, and tall statues. Armed guards stood at every door, and many travelers in strange clothes were passing through. Slightly nervous, I stepped through the massive gate and into the gleaming city. I walked down the tall, stone path, statues on either side of me. I reached the end and turned right, and then left, and right again. I marched down a long path and emerged into a bustling street of tradesmen and adventurers, brigands and priests, you get the idea.

There were many colors and flashes of light from what I assumed where magic users. I saw men with purple skin, men with blue skin, and men shorter than dwarves riding little metal contraptions. I walked down the stores, not sure where I could go to find an inn. I saw a sign labeled the Gilded Lily and decided to head over there and ask directions.

I stepped through the doorway into a small, but comfortable place. A lady in a dress greeted me and asked what she could do for me. "I'm lookin' for a place to spend the night," I replied. "Well, you've come to the right place. Welcome to the Gilded Lily inn," she said.

I gave her a few silver coins and went upstairs to my room. I may have come from a barbaric and primitive place, but it was bare even to me. A simple bed filled up most of the space, and the rest was empty floor. I set down my pack and put down my claymore. Changing into more comfortable attire, I went to sleep for the night.

I woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to go out into the world. Stepping outside of the inn, I set down the road to where I knew destiny awaited me- the Command Center.

In Old Town, there's a section devoted purely to the military part of the Alliance. I walked there now, only occasionally stopping to admire one part of the city or another. After a few minutes, I reached my destination. Before me, lay a stone courtyard with three walls to separate one section from another. To my left was my destination- the Command Center. Straight ahead was SI:7, a place I knew nothing about, and to my left was the war room where a few generals planned out the war that was brewing.

Two guards stopped me and I tried to make my way into the Command Center. "What is your business here?" one of them asked me. "I'm here to join the Stormwind Guard," I replied. I wasn't sure if he heard me because of my Dwarvish Accent, but I think I got through. They let me pass and I entered another rectangular courtyard. Training dummies lined one side, where armed men hacked away at them.

I walked through the courtyard to the main building. A few of the men stopped to stare at me as I entered. Ahead of me lay a staircase leading downstairs, with another one upstairs bound across the room. In the center lay a table with a few chairs around it. Sitting on one of the chairs, talking to two other men, sat a man with black hair and blue eyes. He had a crooked nose and a strong jaw. He was adorned with plate armor and on his back sat a massive stone warhammer.

I approached them and politely waited for them to notice me. They did almost straight away and halted their conversation. "Can I help you, Highlander?" the man asked. "I'm here to join the Stormwind Guard," I replied. The man raised an eyebrow and said, "We don't just let anyone join, you know," he told me. I nodded my head and told him, "I'll gladly take any test ye have for me, sir,"

He nodded his approval and asked me, "Why do you seek a position among the guard?" "I want to help and defend th' people and meet out justice t' the wrong doers," I told him without hesitation. He nodded and asked me, "Do you have any previous command experience?" "I've led the men of me clan into battle many a time," I told him.

"You will be expected to uphold the law and protect the citizens of the Alliance at every opportunity. Will you vow to do this?" I nodded and vowed my allegiance. He then provided me with several papers to sign, after which he called in a man named Jacob to outfit me with armor. "By the way," he said as I walked downstairs with the armorer, "the name's Bastilieus."

I followed Jacob downstairs where he cast a critical eye over my long hair, beard, stocky build, and plaid kilt. After a time muttering to himself about sizes, he handed me some blue and silver armor that I put on with difficulty. The many straps and loops had me confused.

When I finished he handed me a helmet and tabard, which I equipped as well. "Now for a sword," he said half to himself. I interrupted him, saying, "I've got one of my own." He nodded his approval. "Colonel Bastilieus wanted to see you upstairs when you were done," he told me. I nodded my understanding and went upstairs.

I walked up the creaking steps and came to a landing above ground level. It had a window that gave a view out onto the courtyard. The Colonel was standing by it, looking outside. I approached him and said, "Ye wanted t' see me sir?" He nodded and motioned for me to sit in a nearby chair.

After I sat down, he began to speak. "Not many people know this Maddock, but the Guard's in trouble. We have a very small number of guards, partly because many went to the join the new Alliance Special Forces squad. There's nothing we can do about it for now, however. We'll need more men, but for now we have to stay fixed on our duties. There's a problem in Goldshire," he said. Charlie thought back to when he had visited the large, busy town.

Goldshire was a little was South Easy of Stormwind, and attracted more travelers than you could count. It was also a frequent sight of Horde raids. I frowned at that thought. He hoped that they weren't sending him there for that reason. I admired and respected the people of the Horde very strongly, especially the orcs.

"Every night, people are being kidnapped. Stolen. Gone. They go to bed and never come out of their bedroom. We don't have any idea where they're going, and that's why we're going to send you their," he said.

I nodded mu understanding. "I'll find these flee bitten, honor-less scoundrels who steal men from their beds," I said, growled. The Colonel nodded, obviously pleased by my enthusiasm. "I won't be sending you alone, however," he said. I frowned at that. Didn't he trust me enough to be able to handle this on my own? I opened my mouth to protest, but he interrupted me. "It's not that we don't think you'll be able to handle it. We want to send another new recruit along so that you both get some experience from this. If we're going to keep anyone in the Guard, we're going to have to be known as the best, so we need to be the best."

I thought it over and grudgingly admitted that it made sense. "Who is goin' with me?" I asked him. "A night elf by the name of Talfuric," he told me. I sighed in frustration. I didn't like Night Elves. "When do we leave?" I asked him

"Right away," he told me. Good. I was spoiling for some adventure. And maybe a fight or two. "Grab your sword and return here," he said. I grinned.


	2. Getting Information

I left the building as quickly as I could without running. I found it was much easier to get through a crowd when you wore a Stormwind Guard uniform. And it also helped if you were very big. Anyway, thanks to those two factors I reached the inn rather quickly. I ran up stairs to grab my sword

One of the finest every made in the clan, it was a rather simple sword, two handed with a V-shaped cross-guard. It had a leather handle and hardened steel blade that shone whenever it hacked through anyone unfortunate enough to be in its way.

I slung it on my back and grabbed my bags and equipment, slapping down a few coins on the counter as I left. I walked a little more slowly back to the Command Center, saluting any fellow guardsmen I saw.

"Where can I find the quarters?" I asked one of the guards when I arrived. He pointed to the upstairs staircase, and when I climbed it I found a door which led to a long hallway. The hallway was lined with doors. I tried each door until I found one unlocked. Opening it, I put down my equipment and left.

I then returned to where I had left Bastilieus and found him accompanied by a tall Night Elf with dark violet skin and the same plate armor I wore. He had a short-sword slung on his belt and a blue shield on his back.

I salute them both. "I'm ready t' depart, Colonel," I told Bastilieus. He nodded. "Charlie, I'd like you to meet Talfuric. Talfuric, this is Charlie." We shook hands. "You'll find horses waiting for you just outside the Command Center. We need to find out who's doing this as soon as possible, so ride hard and fast for Goldshire. When you arrive, disguise yourselves. We don't want them to know we're investigating," he told us

"I understand, sir," I told him. Talfuric did likewise. "Then get going. And good luck!" he told us as we descended the stairs.

Outside I found Jacob holding the reins of two horses. One was dark brown, and the other a light gold. Both were garbed in steel armor.

He handed me the reins to the brown horse.

"What's his name?" I asked him as I gazed in wonder at the neatly brushed battle-horse. Back in the Highlands, we never saw anything as regal.

"He doesn't have one," he said bluntly.

"Well, it looks like I'll jes' have to find ye one," I said, addressing the horse.

"You can shake hands later," Jacob said, "for now, you ride for Goldshire!"

Talfuric and I mounted quickly and set off at a full gallop, the people flattening themselves against the walls as we passed.

We continued on as fast as ever and didn't slow down until we were out of site of the main gates. Then we slowed to a brisk trot and eventually stopped by a clump of trees a little ways of the side of the road.

There, we took off our plate armor and replaced it with normal breeches, tunics, and leather vests. As we slung on our bows, I asked Talfuric, "A Night Elf, eh? Most of th' guards 'ere are human. Wouldn't ye feel more comfortable as a guard in Darnassus?"

After he had put on his leather shoes, he told me, "The pay is much better here than back at Darnassus. They need guards here more desparately, so they'll pay more for them."

I nodded, satisfied with his answer.

After we had disguised ourselves as hunters, intending to stay at Goldshire awhile and take advantage of the plentiful game, we continued on the road for a few more minutes.

When we saw smoke that announced the approaching town, we dismounted and hid our armor in a bush by a tall tree. We took the armor off of the horses and did the same. We marked the tree with a carving shaped like a sword, and continued on.

It was a fine day for riding, with the sun in the sky and a few white clouds every here and there. It brightened my spirits quite a bit, it did.

When we arrived in Goldshire, a small town with an inn, a blacksmith, and a few small houses around the area, it was clear that the kidnappings didn't bother anyone who lived there.

Travelers and adventurers crowded the streets, many wearing strange and colorful armor. A few of the citizens also walked about in plain cloth clothes, going about their day to day business.

Talfuric and I rode quietly over to the inn and handed our horses over to the stable master, who was standing just outside. I looked at him and he nodded, and as one we entered the inn.

It was crowded, hot and stuffy. Did I mention loud? It was that, too. Dwarves, gnomes, elves, draeni, and humans were all over the place, drinking by the fire or sitting at one of the many tables.

We somehow got through to the innkeeper, where we loudly announced ourselves as local hunters who wanted to stay for a few days. He nodded and we paid him, along with a few drinks. We sat down at a large table with quite a few people, none of which seemed to understand what personal space was.

We started to pretend to drink (it would do no good to dim our wits) and tried to get in on the conversation going on. It wasn't hard.

The conversation was about the inconvenience of the murloc population to the east, that had stopped fishing for the moment. A few of them complained that the Guard wasn't doing anything about it, and cursed them very loudly.

We grudgingly joined in.

We tried to steer the conversation to the kidnappings, but to no end. Sighing silently, we moved over to another table. "It's that Horde that's doin' it!" roared one of the men at the table.

I looked at Talfuric with raised eyebrows. Finally, we were getting somewhere. "Shut up Belkin," one of them muttered, "you'll get us into trouble, you will!"

Afraid that it might end there, I said, "Let him have his say! There's no guard here t' lock 'im up for it!" A few of the men muttered their agreement.

The man then said, "Mabye it's not the whole Horde, but it's probably those goblins! There stealing people here to sell them as slaves!" "Nonsense," a heavily bearded man muttered, "if it was goblins that was doin' it, they'd blow a hole through their doors. These people is just disappearing! It's magic that's doin' it, it is!" he said.

"I heard," a bushy eye-browed man piped up, "that there's a strange figure seen walking around at night, cloaked in black! It's him that's doin' it!"

"There was one man," said Belkin, "that said he'd seen the kidnapper and planned to follow him! And then guess what! He was found dead the next morning! Ripped to shreds! It was like a giant bear had taken a swipe at him!"

The men turned silent at that. I expected one of them to claim that it was nonsense, just an old story. A nonsense tale, that held no water and that could easily be proven false by a logical mind. No one did.


	3. Revelations

Talfuric and I were shaken by that. Clearly what we were dealing with wasn't goblins.

I leaned back and yawned, saying, "Well, I'm gonna head off t' bed now." I stood up and strode past the crowd to the stairs, which I ascended to my bedroom.

Once I entered, I sat on one of the two beds and waited. A few minutes later, Talfuric came in.

"What do you think, human? Were they telling the truth?" he asked me.

"Aye. Truer words, they've probably ne'er spoken," I said thoughtfully. "You don't joke abou' that kind'a thing. Not to mention, no one questioned we'er it was true."

He nodded, obviously having reached the same conclusion. "A giant bear..." he said to himself. "Could a druid be responsible for this? I've seen quite a few back at Darnassus. Of course, they only take the form of regularly sized bears…"

I thought about it for a second, and then said, "I think we need to ask around more, get a few details about what happened."

He nodded, and then said, "Well, it's too late to do anything tonight. Let's go to sleep." "I'll take first watch," I said. There was no question that we were taking watches after what we had just heard.

************

Talfuric relieved me at midnight, at which time I slept a fitful sleep full of giant bears and nameless horrors. I woke up far from refreshed, but eager to get to the bottom of what was going on.

We left the inn at the crack of dawn. The sun rising over the trees was a sight of such beauty, I've had a hard time seeing one that beat it. There were no clouds in the sky, and slowly people began to emerge and arrive from the roads.

We walked around the town for a few minutes, and then approached the black smith as a man in a Stormwind uniform took a position outside.

"Excuse me sir," I said, "we've heard a few tall tales around town about a few kidnappings going on. My friend and I wanted t' know if they held any water."

He gave me a sad smile, than said, "If you hear any strange and mysterious tales of kidnappings going on around here, then you can believe them. Every day there's been someone stolen out of their bed and never seen again."

Talfuric and I looked at each other, surprised.

"It's just a matter of time," he said, "before we discover whose been taken today."

"We also heard about a man who was torn to shreds by what was apparently a giant bear," I said, "can you tell us about that?"

"Ah, yes. The man's name was Aberforth, a man about 46 years old. It was 12 days after the kidnappings started. He and I were talking by the road over there," he said pointing to the road that split to go to Goldshire and Stormwind, "when suddenly he looked over my shoulder, and screamed."

"He started running towards whatever he saw, and I grabbed his arm and stopped him. I asked him what it was, and he said he'd seen a man dressed in black, upon a black horse. He shouted something over his shoulder about duty as he ran away," the man said.

"I ran after him, but he lost me in the darkness. I few seconds later, I heard him scream. It was a horrible sound, but it pointed me in the right direction," he said, "A few seconds later I found him. He was lying on the ground, face up, dead. Across his chest, from shoulder to hip, were three massive cuts, like a giant beast had clawed at him."

"What was the man's profession?" I asked him. He thought for a moment and then said, "He was a lumber jack, and a fine one too."

Talfuric gave me a strange look that I couldn't interpret, so I thanked him for his trouble and told Talfuric loudly that we'd better get to hunting. He set off into the woods and I followed him.

A few seconds later, we stopped in a group of trees that obscured us from the town. "What was that question about his profession for?" he asked me.

"That question," I told him, "gave us another reason to think it's a druid that's doin' it." "Druids like th' trees, righ'? I asked him. When he nodded his confirmation, I continued, "So they wouldn't be too happy about havin' 'em cut down, would they?"

Understanding dawned on his face. "Well, that limits the suspects to Night Elves," I said, proud of my detective abilities. I got frustrated when I saw Talfuric shake his head. "It's not a druid that's doing it," he told me.

I frowned. All of the evidence suggested that it was a druid that was doing it. "Why do ye say that?" I asked him.

"Remember what he said about the man who was mauled?" he asked me. I thought for a second, than said, "Yeah, three claw marks across th' chest."

He nodded, than said, "How many claws does a bear have?" "Four," I said. He nodded.

Any further conversation was cut off when we heard a scream coming from the town. We looked at each other, then stood up and sprinted as fast as we could towards it, nocking an arrow onto our bows.

We burst into the village to see no people in the streets. Alarmed that the usually crowd was gone, we ran into the inn. Still no people.

We ran upstairs, panic sinking its icy claws into my chest. It alleviated a little when we saw a large amount of people gathered around a room.

We somehow managed to elbow our way through to the room, where we saw a woman cradling a man's head on her lap. The man was dead.

He held a sword in his had, cut into two. A scar ran down his chest, from his left shoulder to his right hip. It was clearly made by a sharp weapon, probably a sword.

Among the crowd, I spotted the guard we had talked with earlier today. Walking over to him, I asked him, "What happened here?"

He appeared thoughtful for a second, then said, "The man was here visiting his mother, the woman holding him, for a few days. We suspect that he was the target of the kidnapper last night. My theory is that he woke up while he was in the room and grabbed his sword. Somehow, the kidnapper broke it into two, very neatly, and then killed him."

I thought about it for a second. It sounded logical, and since no one had disappeared, that must have been what happened.

Talfuric caught my eye and motioned for me to join him in our room. After I entered and closed the door, he said, "Charlie, have you noticed anything about the victims?" I thought for a second, and then said, "I didn't look at the list of people who had disappeared."

"I did," he said, "and I noticed something. All the people who have disappeared were only visiting for short periods of time. No permanent resident has been killed." I nodded my understanding.

"So?" I said, "How does that help us? Most of the people here are just passing by, so it doesn't give us the ability to protect people."

"It doesn't help us," he said, "what it _tells_ us, is that we are in extreme danger right now. We're supposed to be passing by, as we've loudly told everyone we can."

My eyes widened at that revelation.

Then I said, "Well, doesn't that help us? He'll just come to us faster, and then we can deal with him."

Talfuric sighed, and then said, "Did you bother to find out what that man did for a living?" I frowned and replied no. "Well, I did," he said. "So? What did he do?" I asked him.

"He's a member of the Alliance Special Forces. They may be idiotic snobs, but they're called the Special Forces for a reason. Charlie, I think that if we want a hope to survive, we need to find the kidnapper before sundown." He said.


	4. The plan goes into motion

Talfuric and I left the inn almost immediately. We walked casually until we lost site of the town, then we sprinted until we found a location we knew was private.

Panting for breath, we sat down with our backs to a small hill. I looked up at the sky and tried to judge how long we had until nightfall. It was still early in the day, so we had time.

After I had regained my breath, I asked Talfuric, "Why don't we just camp out here? Maybe if he thinks we cleared out, he'll choose someone else."

Talfuric shook his head, "I think he's too smart for that. Besides, he and this giant beast are obviously related. Whose to say it won't hunt us while we're out here?"

I frowned as I realized we really did only have until nightfall. "We could always return to Stormwind," he said quietly.

I thought that over. "No. Not unless we have no other choice. We're these people's last hope. If we don't succeed, more people will die," I said.

"ok," he said, "what do you plan to do?"

I opened my mouth to tell him an absolutely foolproof, brilliant plan of mine that could save the day easily, but then realized that I didn't have one. Thinking quickly, so as to not look foolish in front of Talfuric, I said, "Why don't we let ourselves be captured?"

He looked very surprised by that. "Are you crazy, or do you just have a death wish?" he asked me. As I thought more about it, the more I liked it. "What if we spread word that you've chickened out and left to Stormwind while I stay here? Then, when night falls, I'll probably be stolen away by the culprit. Then, you quietly follow us and we can gang up on him," I said.

He started to make a smart retort about my plan, but I interrupted him. "Just think it through," I said.

He paused and grudgingly thought it over. After a minute, he said, "We'll be putting you in a whole lot of danger," he said. I laughed aloud at that. "Of course, a man like me who grew up in a harsh and unforgiving climate full of bears, boars, and other beasts would have no experience with danger."

He thought it over, and then said, "Well, I can't come up with anything better, so okay. But I think I really should go back to Stormwind to tell them what we've found out. That way, if we both die, they'll at least gain our knowledge of the situation."

I nodded and then stood up to go back. He did the same, and we walked back into the village, pretending to argue heatedly over what was going on.

"It's too dangerous here!" Talfuric hissed at me. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible! We'll go hunt in the Wetlands!" I laughed at him, and said, "The Wetlands? Oh Aye! We can catch all the frogs we can eat! And share 'em with the orcs! I'm telling you, we can handle any sneaky little coward any day!"

Talfuric shook his head. We were drawing attention now, just as we had hoped. "You saw what happened to that man in the inn! We'd be no match for someone like that! I'm done with you and your foolish games!" he shouted at me. "I'm going to Stormwind! I'm going to take the first boat to Auberdine, and you can die for all I care!"

He then ran off towards Stormwind. "Talfuric, wait!" I shouted after him, but it was no use. I pretended to over my face with my palm and then glared at everyone who was staring at me. "What are ye lookin' at?" I hissed.

They glared back at me and walked away. I suppressed a grin.

I spent the rest of the day pretending to drink heavily in the inn, shouting about how lonely I was now that my only companion had left me for good.

When I wasn't talking about Talfuric, I was bragging about how I was not afraid of any man who stole people from their beds.

As the sun began to set, I pretended to make a giant yawn, than tumbled up the stairs, making as much noise as I could. I called out to random people I saw in the halls, and then walked into my room and slammed the door.

Hiding a long, sturdy dagger in my breeches, I laid down and tried to get some sleep, my heart hammering.

The last light of the sun disappeared beneath the trees and a hush fell over Elwyn Forest. Staring out into the forest that I hoped contained Talfuric, I went to sleep.


	5. Answers

Talfuric sat silently in a group of trees, watching the inn. The moon was high in the sky thankfully, so he had a good view of everything around the town.

Though wearing his heavy plate armor, he was still able to move silently through the grass, watching the dark buildings silhouetted against the sky.

He moved South of Goldshire, going down a ridge that blocked the town momentarily from his view. Walking across a short valley, he climbed a small hill that overlooked a mine.

Going behind a tree, he watched the streets in silence.

If anyone had looked at the dark shadows the tree he was hiding under cast, they would have seen nothing unless they had expected to see something.

His eyes shot over towards the black smith, were he had seen a brief movement. Upon further observation, he discovered it was only a wolf that was prowling around near the pond behind the small building.

No one else was out watching for anything tonight. Apparently, on the fifth day, 3 guards had stayed outside to watch for trouble. They had disappeared and never found again. When that happened again the next night, people made sure they were well inside by nightfall.

The night moved on uneventfully, until it was about 1 in the morning. At that time, his keen Elven ears picked up something that humans couldn't. Faint hoof beats and the soft turning of wheels.

Eyes darting everywhere, he almost missed the cart coming up behind the inn. It wasn't a very long cart, only about 7 feet long with a canvas covering. Two figures sat on it, driving a black horse with padded hooves. They were hooded and cloaked in dark clothing.

One of them had long ears that poked through holes cut in his hood. That meant, thought Talfuric, that he was a Night Elf, a Blood Elf, or a High Elf. Whatever kind of elf it was, it pulled out two daggers from his belt and plunged them into the back of the inn.

Pulling himself up, he pulled out a dagger and put it in further up. He repeated the process until he was level with a window. Charlie's window, he realized. He pulled out something from his belt and did something to the hinges. He fumbled with the lock for a minute, and then it swung open on hinges that he had apparently just oiled.

He disappeared for a minute inside, and Talfuric pulled the bow off of his shoulders. He wasn't quite as adept at it as he was with his sword, but he was confident he could shoot the elf down from here. If he showed any sign of hurting Charlie, that is.

A moment later, the elf emerged with an unconscious Charlie on his back. As he climbed out, his hood slipped and the moonlight revealed his face.

He was a Night Elf that was sure, with an angled face and green eyes. He looked familiar, but Talfuric could not put his finger on who it was.

He climbed down again and they pulled the canvas cover off of the wagon. They put Charlie in and gut back onto the cart.

Silently, they moved away from the building. Talfuric, making sure to stay in the shadows, followed along even more quietly than they were.

They went over uneven terrain that Talfuric had trouble navigating. Twice, he lost the cart entirely, and had to trust his ears to pick up the faint noise they made. He had the strange feeling that someone was watching him, but he couldn't see anyone nearby.

They went south for about 15 minutes before they reached the river that divided Elwyn Forest from Duskwood. They paused by the river and the one that wasn't a night elf fumbled for something in his robe.

A second later he pulled out a small, round object that sat in his palm. He heard him speak, but couldn't make out the words. A second later, the river split and revealed a passageway through the water to a cave in the river side.

They walked into it, and Talfuric sprinted to make sure the river didn't close without him inside. His worry was needless, however, and it staid open long after he had gone through.

He looked into the cave and saw pure darkness that not even his eyes could penetrate. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the abyss.

He walked for only 10 minutes, but that felt like an eternity. Soon, light came into view and he saw flaming torches bolted to the wall. There, the road split into two. He took the right one.

After wandering for a few minutes, he came onto a wide balcony that overlooked a large, stone hall. "How could someone have built this without being noticed?" he asked no one in particular.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he looked across the hall into a doorway that led to another hallway. He was petrified as he watched a tall, black dragon make its way across the doorway.

On it's back sat a tall rider, clothed in plate armor as black as his steed. On his head sat a helm with two black steel wings protruding from it. The helmet obscured his face. His armor was midnight black and jagged in an artful kind of way.

He wore a cloak, also black, and on his hip sat an amazing sword. Its pommel was a ruby and it had a black leather grip that lead to a cross guard that looked like two dragon wings. In its center sat another ruby that glowed slightly.

The blade was steel with black runes running along its length. The most astonishing thing though, was the red flames that ran along the blade.

_Dragons!_ He thought to himself. _That's whose behind these kidnappings!_ Now even more fearful for Charlie's life, he left the balcony running.

He sprinted through winding and crossing tunnels until he came to another large hall, more giant than even the last one. It was lit up by a brilliant fire in the center, and about 50 hooded men stood around it. He saw the cart that had carried away Charlie pushed to a side, and Charlie himself was lying on a stone table by the fire.

One of the men, wearing a helmet with curved horns rising from it, stood on a raised platform and spread his arms wide, addressing the others.

"Tonight!" he shouted, "The last of the sacrifices will be made! Tonight, the demon lord Sargeras shall return to Azeroth to destroy all! Tonight, we shall be made immortal by the Great One!" The others cheered and shook black swords in the air.

"We shall be granted the honor and respect that we have earned," he continued, "and we shall destroy the Alliance, Horde, Scourge, and anyone else who would dare appose us!"

This was met by more cheering, and Talfuric decided it was time to do something. Reaching inside a pouch on his belt, he withdrew a small golden mirror. Speaking an incantation he had learned long ago, the mirror began to glow and make a faint humming noise.

Soon, a face not his own appeared in the mirror. "What is it?" said Rhonin, archmage of Dalaran. "What have you found?" he asked again. "I'm in a cavern beneath Duskwood! Charlie and I have followed the kidnappers here, and they're not slave traders!" Talfuric said, trying to hurry.

"Explain what's happened," said Rhonin, worried. Talfuric explained how he had gotten here, the black dragon he had seen, and the horrible plot the cultists had. As his tale progressed, Rhonin got paler and paler.

"Help is on the way. I'll send as many soldiers I can," He said. Talfuric frowned. How would they possibly get here in time to help? He opened his mouth to ask Rhonin, but then he disappeared.

Talfuric sighed and sank into despair. Now he and probably Charlie would die here. His self pity was interrupted by a flash of light that lit up the cavern he was in, and when it disappeared, he gaped in surprise.

In the cavern with him were over 200 spell casters of different kinds from all of the races, even the Horde. He smiled and laughed out loud. Now, they could win easily.

"When do we attack?" he asked the most finely dressed of them, who he guessed was their leader. "We won't," he said, "They could use Charlie as a hostage too easily. We have a different plan."

"Well, what is it then?" Talfuric asked him. The man smiled. "We plan to collapse the cavern."


	6. A Few More Answers

Talfuric beamed for a moment, happy that they were going for such a simple solution. Then, slowly, his smile faded into a grin, then to a straight line, then to a frown.

"But… wouldn't that kill Charlie?" he laughed nervously.

The man gave him a sad smile, than said, "His sacrifice was admirable, but we can't go down there and try to rescue him."

"Why couldn't you? After all, the only reason you're collapsing the cave is so that they can't use him as a hostage," Talfuric said.

The man frowned. "Is that what I said?" he asked himself, "What I meant to say is, if we go charging down there, they could kill Charlie and then unleash the ex-leader of the Burning Legion to lay waste to all of Azeroth, ushering in an age of death and darkness. Don't you think preventing that is worth one man's sacrifice?"

"He risked his life to help us," Talfuric growled, "and we have a duty to help him!"

The man gave Talfuric that sad smile again. "My good man, we don't know if he hasn't already been poisoned! He could be dying right now from some incurable toxin, and then we'd lose many men and risk the world trying to save a lot cause. It's not worth it," he said.

Talfuric drew his sword.

"I will not let you harm him!" he said to the man.

The man sighed heavily, and then flicked his fingers at Talfuric. There was a flash of blue light, and he knew no more.

************

As two men dragged the unconscious Night Elf away, the lead spell caster raised his arms towards the cavern ceiling along with 198 others. Summoning countless kinds of different energies, they sought to bring down the cavern.

For a few moments nothing happened. And then, suddenly so that the cultist leader couldn't reverse the effects, the ceiling caved in.

Boulders of every size killed countless cultists, and obscured the rest from view. A thick layer of dust lined the air, but a druid sent it away in a gust of wind.

"Go get the General," the man in charge told one of the mages.

The mage disappeared in a flash of light, and the others descended to observe the damage.

There was rubble everywhere, and where the ground wasn't covered in rock, there was usually blood and gore from the unfortunate cultists.

He stepped in and around it until he reached the ruins of the sacrificial altar. He couldn't see any available route towards it, so he gathered his men to move the rocks.

Before they could act, he heard a muffled scream from inside. Happiness soared inside him as he realized that Charlie might have lived.

At his order, the rock was swept aside to reveal the lead cultist, his arm crushed under a boulder.

Screaming and gnashing his teeth, he tried to grab a dagger to cut off his limb.

The magi knocked it from his grip and cut it off for him. As they healed the wound, the leader of the group put him into a sitting position.

He had a grey beard and bushy eyebrows of a similar color. His nose had been broken and blood sprayed out over his face, so it was hard to see him clearly.

After he had been healed, the leader of the group threw his hand around his throat and decided it was time to get some answers from this piece of scum.

************

15 minutes after the collapse of the cavern, Talfuric awoke. He didn't hurt like he expected, so he stood up. His sword was gone, but the rest of his gear was still on him.

After a second, the head mage he had conversed with earlier came over.

Smiling to see him awake, he said, "Don't worry, you won't be punished for what just happened. You did what you thought was right. I wouldn't have done anything different."

Talfuric glared at him. No amount of kind words would ever excuse him from his kind deed in his eyes.

Giving him that cursed sad smile, the man grabbed him by the shoulder and led him over to where he had been interrogating the leader of the cultists.

He was tied up and gagged in a sitting position by a boulder. Talfuric looked at his face again, trying to recognize him, but the dried blood made it impossible.

Over the cultist stood a man in gleaming Stormwind Armor and a helmet that obscured his face. He didn't know who the man was based on his armor, but he did recognize the tabard. This man was a member of the Alliance Special Forces.

"Talfuric," the mage said, "let me introduce you to General Henry Bohun, leader of the Alliance Special Forces." Talfuric's eyes widened slightly at that revelation.

He bowed to the General. He did not return the favor.

"Right, now that greetings are over, let's get down to business," the General said in a deep voice.

Talfuric raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"This man," he said pointing to the cultist, "is the leader of the Cult of the Demon Skull. Apparently, they were founded many years ago, with the purpose of resurrecting the Demon Lord Sargeras."

"Yes," Talfuric said, "I know. I wanted to ask you, mage, how this could be possible? Surely if you could resurrect someone with 50 deaths it would have been done before, but I have never heard anything like it."

The mage nodded. "As a matter of fact, you cannot resurrect someone with 50 men."

Talfuric nodded his understanding. "So then, this Cult was a nonsense group with no achievable purpose, correct?"

The mage shook his head. "Oh no. They have not only killed the people they've gathered from Goldshire. Apparently, they've killed over 20,000 people from all over Azeroth."

Talfuric paled. "How could this happen?" he asked the General.

"They captured only about 1 person per town they came upon. More from larger towns, and then when they did not get enough they started getting as many as they could from Goldshire. Such few people disappearing was hardly out of the ordinary," the General said.

Talfuric nodded. It made sense.

"Well, at least the threat is over," he said.

He paled even more when the General and mage shook their heads.

"According to him," the General said, pointing to the cultist, "this was only a small group. There are more all over Azeroth, trying to do the same thing,"

"How many?" Talfuric asked.

"Lets ask him!" said the General.

They were unable too, however, because at that moment a spinning blade, wreathed in flames, was thrown out of nowhere and impaled itself in the chest of the Cultist.

Talfuric recognized the blade.

It pulled itself out of the man and went over their shoulders, handle first, to return to the fist of it's thrower, a man dressed in black plate, riding a black dragon.


	7. For Charlie

Talfuric stared at the man, eyes wide with fear. The majority of the magi that had come to collapse the cave were gone. There was only 5 magi including the leader, the General, and himself.

Talfuric went through the odds in his head. They might stand a chance. The magi were some of the most powerful, and there was only one of him. Of course, then there was his dragon. He was confident they could handle it, too.

One of the magi, a gnome mage, stretched out his hand and sent a bolt of crackling purple lightning at the man, who stuck out his hand and deflected it off a shield of red energy.

One of the night elf druids sent a ball of green energy at him, but he deflected it as well.

The dragon reared its head and took a deep breath. The 7 companions ran together behind the leader, who raised a purple shield to protect them. The lava pored around it, not harming any of them.

"Stand aside!" roared the Dragon Rider, "I only want the General!"

"You'll have to go through us to get him!" Talfuric shouted back.

The rider snarled and leapt through the air, landing in front of the group.

In one fluid motion, he drew his long sword which, Talfuric now noticed, was not covered in fire. The rider suddenly tensed, however, and that situation was changed.

The lead mage drew a long sword and swung at his head, only to have it blocked by an unmoving parry.

Flipping his sword around, the strong rider disarmed him, sending the sword flying. He raised a gauntleted fist and knocked him 6 feet across the floor, unconscious.

The night elf raised his hand to strike him down with some spell, but was stopped when the flaming sword tore open his chest from his left shoulder to his right hip.

As the elf fell, dead, Talfuric looked at the wound. He recognized it as very similar to the one the man in the inn had.

The gnome mage now barred his way, his fists glowing with purple energy. As the man raised his sword, the mage summoned a barrier of magic to deflect it.

The sword went right through it as if it wasn't there, and he decapitated the gnome with one fluid motion.

The remaining two spell casters, a human mage and a draeni shaman, stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the General.

The black dragon leaped through the air and killed the man with a swipe from it's massive paw. Talfuric saw it resembled the description of the man who had followed the kidnapper through the night.

The draeni raised his hand to strike it with a bolt of lightning, but was instead thrown across the room by a fireball from the dragon rider. He landed hard, his corpse smoldering.

The General and Talfuric now stood against the unstoppable wave of death they faced. The dragon rider walked a few steps ahead of his steed, slowly approaching them.

As they raised their weapons and prepared for death, two streaks of red shot out from the side of their vision and slammed into the approaching foes.

When the dust settled, it revealed the dragon rider mounted on his dragon, facing two red dragons, each slightly bigger than the black one.

"Fools!" the dragon rider shouted, "You are ruining everything!"

The red behemoths lunged at him, but they had already taken off towards an exit. They ducked below the arch and disappeared. The two reds did not pursue.

They approached Talfuric and the General, transforming into a mix between a high elf and a human.

When they got within a few feet, Talfuric bowed.

They smiled, and the taller of the two, a being with red hair and dark blue eyes said, "No need for that."

Talfuric nodded. "Thank you very much for your assistance. Without you, I fear we would be strewn across the cavern floor," he said.

The other one smiled now. "Of that, I have no doubt," he said, laughing. "Though I'm sure you would have fought very honorably."

"Bah!" the general said, "I could have beaten them single-handedly."

Talfuric frowned at his rudeness, but the dragons did not seem to notice.

"We've been tracking those two for days now. Apparently, they've been causing more than a little trouble around Goldshire," the taller one now said.

"You could say that," Talfuric said.

"When we heard of what had happened here, we set off at once, fearing that they had not been killed in the collapse," the other one said.

"Apparently, we were quite right."

Talfuric nodded, than said, "We lost a good man today. His sacrifice was necessary, but that does not ease the burden on my heart."

They smiled sadly and looked at the rubble.

At that moment, the lead spell caster stumbled towards the companions from a pile of rocks where he had landed.

He had a bruised chin, but didn't look seriously injured, "Everything alright?" he asked them.

Talfuric nodded. "This is… uh…" he said, casting a questioning glance at the two dragons. They smiled but did not give him their names.

"These are the two dragons that saved us from the dragon rider," Talfuric said.

The mage's eyes widened slightly and he nodded.

"Thank you very much for your help," he told them.

They smiled and nodded. "Think nothing of it," they said.

"We must be off now," one of them said. The other nodded. "I trust you can portal these men out of here?" he asked the mage.

After he nodded, they transformed again and ran through the tunnel entrance, going who knows where. Who else but them, of course.

The three men waited in silence for a few moments, and then the mage said, "I'll summon a portal to the command center, then."

Talfuric and the General nodded.

After a few moments of concentration, there was a blinding flash of light and then a shining oval appeared, in it a view of the table inside the command center.

The General stepped through, but Talfuric hesitated. "I never had the privilege of learning your name," he told the mage.

"My name is Arkannon, mage of Dalaran," he said, smiling.

Talfuric nodded.

"I guess the rest of the cultists will have to be hunted down now, won't they?" he asked him.

Arkannon nodded sadly.

"Good," Talfuric said.

Arkannon gave him a surprised look. "You are eager to slaughter men once of the Alliance?" he asked him.

Talfuric shook his head. "No," he said, "I'm ready to kill as many as I can to avenge Charlie Maddock of the clan Maddock, son of the chieftain and the finest warrior I have ever known."

He turned and saluted the caved in cavern, then turned and walked through the shining portal.

Arkannon stood there for a few minutes after the portal to Stormwind had closed.

He summoned a portal to Dalaran and then took one last of look at the cave. "Aye," he said, "for Charlie."


End file.
